Kyrie Irving’s full-time changes the landscape of the Eastern Conference

How Kyrie Irving’s return to full-time status for the Brooklyn Nets in the Eastern Conference. 

To say that this season hasn’t gone as planned for the Brooklyn Nets is an understatement, to say the least. With just a couple of weeks remaining in the regular season, the Nets are projected to have to play their way in the playoffs and then will have to face either the No. 1 or 2 seed.

The odds will certainly be stacked against the Nets heading into the playoffs, but there is one recent development that will work in their favor – the fact that Kyrie Irving has officially been cleared to play in home games.

Essentially, he’s once again become a full-time player for the Nets. And that’s a huge factor that should be calculated into how many expect the Eastern Conference playoffs to go.

Part of the reason why the Nets will have to play their way into the postseason via the Play-In Tournament is the fact that Kyrie wasn’t a full-time player for much of the year. In fact, he didn’t even make his season debut with the team until January.

Whether the Nets enter the playoffs as the seventh or eighth seed one thing is clear – this is not going to be your typical seventh or eighth seed. The Nets have the talent as a top 2 seed and will be entering the playoffs as such.

And that’s even without a Ben Simmons return. If he does make his return at some point over the next couple of weeks, though that is looking more and more unlikely despite the Nets still being optimistic about it, it would only add fuel to this team and their title chances.

With the way the East standings currently are, there’s a chance we could see a first-round playoff matchup between the Nets and Milwaukee Bucks.

Kyrie Irving’s return to full-time status changes the landscape of the East. Maybe you won’t truly believe it until the Nets upset one of the top 2 seeds in the first round of the playoffs.